On Thursday I had a great day with an adventurous and quick learning tenkara first timer. We worked on building our skills on hatchery supported water in the morning and trekked into some wild trout water in the afternoon. We caught Brook trout in both situations but you’d hardly know they were the same species (Salvalinus fontinalis) by looking at them. Hatchery reared Brook trout (top picture) in our area come from northern stock and tend to be darker and grow larger than our native Appalachian Brook Trout. Here where streams are small and relatively low on nutrients, our Brook trout have evolved to be smaller and more colorful. (For an even more pronounced example, check out the post above!) Genetic diversity is an essential component of species resiliency and one of the many things that make life on earth interesting. Isn’t it great that we can all be the same as a species and be unique as individuals at the same time?